Shore Manufacturing seeks city grant amid $1M expansion plans (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — The City of Jacksonville is considering an incentives proposal to support a $1 million manufacturing expansion in the Northside, city records show.
Shore Manufacturing, a producer of custom sanitary wipes for many large restaurant and food service companies such as Five Guys, is considering growing its footprint in the Mixon Town neighborhood.
The expansion would support the introduction of a new product line in Jacksonville and help serve its growing client base.
According to the Office of Economic Development, the project would result in about $1 million in new investment and 20 new full-time jobs in the neighborhood, which is within an economically distressed area of Northwest Jacksonville. The expansion details revealed in city records come months after NAI Hallmark announced Shore Manufacturing signed a lease for 86,374 square feet of industrial space at 5245 Commonwealth Ave.
Currently, Shore’s Jacksonville manufacturing plant has 50 employees, the records show.
The new employees hired in the expansion will have an average salary of $50,000 a year.
OED officials proposed a Small Business Development Initiative grant in the amount of $65,000 to support the project, which is slated for review by the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee Monday.
The incentives are considered a material factor in the company’s decision to pick Jacksonville over other locations being considered in the Southeast.
On Sept. 1, the proposed grant was approved by the city’s Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund Advisory Board during its board meeting.
Founded in New Jersey in 2013, Shore Manufacturing launched its manufacturing operation in Jacksonville about five years ago.
The company has visited a few other cities in the Southeast but recently approached the city to discuss financial incentives to help offset the costs tied to the proposed expansion of its manufacturing operation.